Coupler



Patented Oct. 10, 1950 UNITED s'rATEs rarENT OFFICE COUPLER Abram P.Balzer, Mountain Lake, Minn.

Application June 25, 1947, Serial No. 756,938

2 Claims.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in couplers and,more particularly, to that class of couplers which are automaticallylocked upon insertion of the free end of a drawbar into a coupling head.

The important object of my invention is the provision of a novel headwhich will automatically and positively center a drawbar when insertedto its limit therein.

Another obj ect of my invention is the provision of novel means locatedoutside of the coupling head for releasing the retracted coupling pinonly after the drawbar has been denitely centered within the couplinghead.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a coupling devicewhich is simple and inexpensive to build and rugged in construction.

The above and still further objects of my invention will become apparentfrom the following detailed specification, appended claims, and attacheddrawings.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like characters indicate like partsthroughout the several views:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation; some parts being broken away;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 1, some parts beingbroken. away and some shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 and showing a differentposition of some of the parts;

Fig` i is a view corresponding to Fig. 3, but showing a still differentposition of some of the parts; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the latch mechanism of myimproved coupler.

Referring with greater particularity to the drawings, the numeral Iindicates a base plate adapted to be secured by means of nutequippedbolts or the like 2, to any portion of the frame work 3 of a tractionvehicle. A head 4, having forwardly converging side walls 5 and an upperwall 6, is formed integrally with and projects upwardly from the baseplate I. The base plate I, the side walls 5, and the top upper wall tdefine a cavity l, having relatively wide mouth 8 at its rear end and arelatively restricted passage 9 at its forward end.

An inverted L-shaped guide bracket i8 is secured, preferably by weldingor the "se, to the upper wall 5 of the head i and overlies the upperwall t at its intermediate portion. Aligned apertures II, I2, and i3 areprovided in the bracket IQ, the upper wall t, and the base plate irespectively to slidably, axially receive a coupling pin I4, which ispreferably provided at its upper end with an eye or ring I5 tofacilitate manual setting thereof, as will hereinafter become apparent.A stop collar Iii is secured to the coupling' pin i4, intermediate theguide bracket Ill and the upper wall 6 of the head 4, by any suitablemeans such as a cotter pin Il. rThe coupling pin i4 is biased toward theextended position indicated in Fig. 4, by means of a coil compressionspring I8 interposed between guide bracket ID and the collar I6.

Pivotally secured to the plate I, as indicated at I9, is a latch lever2t, to the free end of which issecured an upwardly-extending stop linger2I. A torsion spring 22 exerts yielding bias upon the lever 2t and thestop finger 2I toward the restricted passage in the head 4, so as tocause the intermediate portion of stop finger 2I to press against theexterior of the head with its forwardly inclined upper end in the pathof travel of the collar I6 on the coupling pin I4. The stop finger 2lpreferably and as shown is formed from a length of wire and is upturnedat its base to provide a forwardly-projecting foot 23, which extendsinto the restricted passage 9, a suicient distance to be engaged by thedrawbar 24 when the stop finger 2i is in engagement `with the head 4, asshown particularly in Fig. 1.

A drawbar 2d, preferably provided with a rounded end 25, is providedwith a coupling aperture 2e immediately adjacent the rounded end 25thereof.

It will be observed that, as the drawbar 24 is inserted into the mouth 8of the head Li, it will be centered by engagement of the rounded end 25with the converging walls 5. During the final inserting and centeringmovements of the drawbar 24 into the head .the rounded end 25 thereofwill engage the foot 23, as indicated in Fig. 3, pushing the samesufficiently rearwardly to release stop finger 2l from engagement withthe collar It (into which position it has been manually pre-set). Thepressure of the coil compression spring I8 upon the collar IE will, ofcourse, force the coupling pin I4 in a direction to engage the drawbar24. At this time, as will be robserved by reference to Fig. '3, thecoupling ture 2t of the drawbar 2e with the coupling pin I4, whereuponthe spring H3` will force the coupling pin I4 therethrough to theposition indicated in Fig. 4. This arrangement will pro- 3 vide suicentroom between the end of the drawbar 24 and the Walls 5 of the head 4 soas to allow swinging movements of the drawbar 24 with respect to thecoupling pin I4 without binding against the converging walls 5.

My invention has been thoroughly tested and found to be entirelysatisfactory for the accomplishment of the above objects; and while Ihave shown a preferred embodiment thereof, as provided by Section 4888of the United States 10 Statutes, it will be understood that the same iscapable of modification Without departure from the spirit of theinvention as expressed i the appended claims.

What I claim is: A

1. A drawbar hitch comprising a hollow coupling head adapted forattachment to a traction vehicle, said hollow coupling head having arelatively wide mouth at one end for reception of the apertured end of adrawbar-and having a relatively restricted passage at its other end,said headhaving spaced internal guide surfaces that converge from saidmouth toward said restricted passage and which serve to center and stopthe apertured end of a drawbar inserted into the 25 head through saidmouth, a vertically disposed coupling pin axially slidably mounted insaid head for extending and retracting movements with respect to thecavity of the head, said coupling pin being provided at its upper endwith a 30 loop to facilitate manual setting, a guide bracket for saidcoupling pin projecting upwardly from said head, a stop collar on saidcoupling pin,

spring means interposed between said stop collar and said guide bracketand biasing said coupling pin toward its extended coupling position, a

pivoted latch lever the free end of which is resiliently urged to aposition immediately behind the restricted passage in said couplinghead, an upstanding stop finger carried by the outer end of said latchlever, the intermediate portion of said stop nger engaging thehead inone eXtreme position and having a forwardly-inclined upper end adaptedto engage the stop collar on the coupling pin and retain the same in aretracted position, and a foot formed integrally with said stop fingerand projecting forwardly into the restricted passage of the head to anextent to be engaged by said drawbar when said stop finger is inengagement with said head.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 in which said stop nger and foot areformed from a. single 0 length of wire, the latter being formed from theupturned lower end portion of the former.

ABRAM P. BALZER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,649,980 Schlagenhauf Nov. 22,1927 1,837,940 Ade Dec. 22, 1931 1,887,054 Wood Nov. 8, 1932 1,939,463Rockinger Dec. 12, 1933

